One Day Left
by Meg2407
Summary: Amidst the oncoming EU referendum and ongoing South China Sea dispute, two advocates for their respective regional groupings comtemplate their woes. (Brexit, South China Sea, EU, ASEAN, Germany, OC Singapore)


**22/6/16**

Singapore walked briskly to the figure leaning on the railings of the bridge. Truth to be told, she still had a lot of work to do, as well as come up with some form of solution for the tensions that vexing South China Sea problem had caused. But this was a friend and she knew that what he was experiencing was not that much different from her and may likely be worse.

Germany glanced up briefly when she reached him before turning his gaze back to the peaceful waters. Placing her elbows on the railings, Singapore did the same. Now and then, a boat would pass by.

"So, how's ASEAN?"

"Oh, you know, the same. It's chaos whenever China comes into the picture."

Singapore sighed, thinking of the argument she just had with the overly rash Malaysian. China and Philippines were still at odds. The last ASEAN meeting with China had been a disaster and she had no idea what to do now. Germany said nothing, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"One day left. Needed a breather?"

Germany cast a surprised glance in Singapore's direction. He sometimes forgot how well updated the small nation was and had not expected her to be keeping close tabs but then again, this matter was quite a big 'event'.

"I understand." Singapore said, without turning her attention from the waters.

Germany nodded, his gaze becoming distant again, "I thought you would know."

"I pushed so hard for that ideal of a united Europe. After the war, it was all I ever wanted. It...it was my way of making up to them... I guess. A stronger Europe. But now, it all seems to be falling short, falling apart. I don't understand why and I just..." Germany's voice cracked.

"... I just don't know what I can do now."

"You can't. There's only so much you can do. It's up to Arthur and his brothers now. And hopefully, those Brits, especially Arthur, would see what's in front of them. He tends to be quite stubborn and prideful sometimes." Singapore replied, albeit with a tinge of resignation.

"What you guys have is far more precious and fragile than he realise. It's worth the concessions."

"It is."

They lapsed into silence.

For Singapore, it had already gone beyond the EU or even ASEAN. She can't help but be reminded of a time many years ago. Almost 51 years ago, to be exact. Sometimes, things didn't always go as you wanted, like it or not, concessions or not.

"It's funny, isn't it. If there's one thing we countries have in common, it would be that we can't seem to agree on one thing together." Germany commented humorlessly.

"Cheer up. Things won't be as bad as you think in the end. I do agree on that last thing though." Singapore chuckled, patting Germany roughly on the back and heading towards the nearest coffeeshop.

"Kopi?*" Singapore called over her shoulder.

Germany couldn't help but smile.

* * *

*kopi means coffee in the Hokkien dialect

 **A/N:** Hi! This is just a one-shot based on some current events and the characters don't necessarily represent what their countries think. Hope you enjoyed it! ;)

Germany, England, China © Hidekaz Himaruya

* * *

 **UPDATE (18/8/16):** This is a bit late but I thought I might explain some references I made in my story. I've been meaning to do this but...I'm kind of lazy... This was actually something that I did on the spur of the moment, days before the EU referendum and I haven't changed the story since then so this piece is not affected by the result of the referendum. ;) Now for the explanations... Hehe...

First of all, the South China Sea dispute, which have been going on for some time. Basically, a few ASEAN countries as well as Taiwan has claims on certain parts of the area while China claims the whole area. Singapore is the 'ASEAN-China dialogue relations coordinator' so that would be part of the reason why she is so vexed over the dispute even though she is not a claimant.

As for the 'overly rash Malaysian' mention, it was in reference to the Malaysian foreign ministry releasing a statement on the South China Sea dispute on behalf of ASEAN, only to retract it later. Though all ASEAN foreign ministers previously agreed on the statement, China got Laos and Cambodia to back away from the statement. Out of frustration, Malaysia had released the statement anyway despite the lack of consensus.

Secondly, there is the obvious EU referendum. If I'm not wrong, Germany was one of the founding members of the EU and quite an active advocate of it, wanting to help poorer European countries even though he is already pretty well off. Prior to the referendum, there was also the matter of Germany's Chancellor Merkel trying to get Britain to stay by proposing special conditions for them. So in a way, I felt Germany and Singapore would be able to relate to each other due to their common woes, like their respective regional groupings both facing problems, with the EU referendum encouraging other EU members to do the same and South China Sea dispute causing disharmony among the ASEAN members.

Finally, there's the reference, to 51 years ago, which is when Singapore separated from Malaysia. In 1963, Singapore merged with Malaysia to become a state of Malaysia, only to separate only two years later due to disagreements between the two parties. Although the situations are not the same, I thought there were points which were quite similar, especially with how disagreements had, in the case of Singapore, ended in her being kicked out of Malaysia despite her reluctance and efforts and how in the case of the EU, might end with Britain leaving (at that time, before it really happened), despite Germany's reluctance and efforts.

So, all in all, I was just connecting the dots, stringing and making connections between different events. Thanks for reading this lengthy explanation! (It was meant to be short but I'm just long-winded) ;)


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